Cotton Classing Instrument
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Cotton and Tobacco Program intends to procure 20 high volume instruments for classing cotton. This procurement will also include a maintenance agreement for all instruments purchased for a period of five years with options for three additional years. The NAICS code for this procurement is 334516 with a size standard of 500 employees. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested, the RFP is attached. Offerors are to provide a proposal for the items specified in the attachment. All responsible sources may submit a proposal for consideration. Prices shall include all necessary labor, parts, materials, and transportation necessary to meet the requirements of the contract. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make the full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at www.acquisition.gov/far/. Award will be made to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to this combined synopsis/solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. A trade off process will be used to evaluate proposals. The Government intends to evaluate offers and award without discussion, however, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions later if determined necessary by the Contracting Officer. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1) Relevant Experience & Past Performance; 2) Technical Approach including (a) Mandatory Technical Requirements; (b) Supplies and Maintenance; (c) Training and 3) Price. Relevant Experience & Past Performance are the most important. In order to assess the offeror's ability to meet the required technical specifications of the instrument, the offeror shall submit with their proposal all drawings, operations and technical manuals that detail the instrument being proposed. In order to assess the offeror's ability to provide maintenance of the instrument, the offeror must provide information on their ability to provide maintenance and describe in full detail the type of maintenance they provide under this contract. This should include a narrative of their prior and current experience in providing maintenance on the proposed instruments. In order to assess the offeror's ability to provide training, technical support and warranty of the instruments, the offeror shall include a narrative or other documentation to describe the training to be provided for the instruments as well as the warranty given. The offeror shall also include a narrative of their experience in providing technical support for the instruments. Past performance is a measure of the degree to which an offeror has satisfied customers in the past, and complied with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The assessment will consider the firm's record of conforming to specifications and to standards of good workmanship / customer service, and adherence to contract schedules, terms and conditions. In accordance with FAR 52.212-1 (b) (10) regarding past performance, references are requested. Each offeror must submit three (3) references which are either current or recent customers for contracts similar in nature to the one described in this announcement. Please provide the name, address, phone number, fax and email for each reference. The provision 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items applies to this solicitation. The contractor shall either complete the on-line Offeror Representations and Certifications (www.SAM.gov) or return a completed copy of the Offeror Representations and Certifications. Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (www.SAM.gov). Registration in SAM is free. A COMPLETE PROPOSAL WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING: 1) A completed and signed copy of the SF-1449 with a completed Section B attached. 2) A detailed narrative addressing the technical specifications as well as the services (training, maintenance, warranty, etc.) to be provided as requested above. 3) References as requested above. 4) A statement stating that the Offeror has read and has a clear understanding of the Statement of Work and the contract clauses/provisions stated in this synopsis. 5) A completed copy of the provisions at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items or confirmation that this has been completed on-line. If an Offerors proposal does not contain all of the items listed above, the proposal may be considered incomplete for evaluation purposes and no further consideration will be given to the offerors proposal, thereby making an offeror ineligible for award. Proposals are due to by 3:00 PM CST, November 24, 2014. Proposals may be submitted electronically to Beverly Brown at BeverlyS.Brown@ams.usda.gov. Mrs. Brown may be reached at (901) 384-3099, ext. 3103
Beverly S. Brown, Phone 901-384-3099, ext. 3103, Fax 901-384-3021, Email BeverlyS.Brown@ams.usda.gov
